Last week flew by! The students all looked very nice on picture day. We were lucky enough to be able to take our class group picture outside in between all of the rain, so hopefully it's a good photo.

As a head's up, School Visitation Day is on October 21st. There is a notice posted on the CHS website with more details, so please make sure to download and read the notice. I will be sending home more information about 1-Bu's specific schedule when we get closer to the day.

Reading : Last week was a monumental week in reading in 1-Bu. Now, the students all have their own, individual book bins filled with appropriately leveled books that they have chosen. They also earned the freedom to be able to read wherever they choose in the classroom. This week we'll spend a little bit of time reviewing exactly what reading workshop should look like and sound like (now that the students are reading all over the room), and then we'll move on to discussing partner reading. By the end of the week, the students will have been given their reading partners.

We've also just about finished up a Kevin Henkes author study. The students LOVE the Kevin Henkes 'mouse books' and have really gotten to know the characters well. If you're ever at the public library, Kevin Henkes' books would be a great choice to read aloud to your child. (At the beginning of the year, the students enjoyed the Mo Willems 'pigeon books' as well.)

Writing : The students are really beginning to get the hang of writing workshop. They're able to come up with story ideas much more independently than they were a couple of weeks ago. This week, we're going to continue to focus on strategies the students can use to write words that they don't know how to spell.

Math : We're starting our second math unit this week. Look for a Unit 2 Family Letter in your child's home folder on Monday. This week, we'll be investigating the number grid and learning about the complements of ten.

Science : Both of our butterflies came out of their chrysalises early last week. The students were absolutely thrilled. However, it made it a little tough to release the butterflies into the wild, because the students had become so attached. In Friday's home folder, you should have come across your child's Butterfly Journal. The students spent a lot of time documenting the changes that our caterpillars/chrysalises/butterflies were going through.

Misc. Notes : If you purchase LJ's lunch for your child, please remember to send the small LJ's ticket to school with your child in the morning. Otherwise, I have no way of knowing if your child has forgotten his/her lunch or if he/she has LJ's that day.

Please remember to keep checking the CHS notices website for up-to-date information. Less and less information is coming home in the yellow folders, as most of it is posted online.